Someone has created a handheld console that’s so small, it’s not even an inch tall.
Posting on the Arduboy community page, Arduboy founder and president Kevin Bates revealed the Arduboy Nano, a tiny “fully function[al] mobile game system” with a 0.49” OLED display and a 64x32 pixel resolution. Powering it is a ATmega 32U4 microcontroller and a 25mAh lithium polymer battery that will last for slightly over an hour. For audio, it has a 15mm piezo speaker, which Bates notes is very quiet due to the size.
The console’s case is 3D printed and consists of 3 pieces that “slide together to complete the enclosure”. According to Bates, the buttons were printed at a speed of 2mm/s to “retain their delicate shape while printing”.
Bates says that the Arduboy Nano’s design is inspired by something he was shown by Tiny Circuits 36 half-a-decade ago. “I’ve been waiting for them to do something with it, but I couldn’t hold back any longer! The people must know!” he wrote.
There are currently no plans to turn the Arduboy Nano into a commercial item, unlike the credit card-sized Arduboy FX that’s available for pre-order, with Bates simply offering PCBs for sale for those who’d like to try building their own Arduboy Nano. However, Bates says that “if it goes bananas online, I’ll consider finding someone to help me turn this into a real product”.
